Police say illegal drivers making a killing tonight could be uninsured or even sexual predators.

BRITS are being warned of the dangers of illegal taxis tonight which put passengers' safety at risk on New Year's Eve.

Drivers can make up to £250 a night by giving "lifts" without a taxi or private hire licence — but cops say the cars can be uninsured or being driven by sexual predators.

And New Year's Eve is when illegal taxis take their biggest scores as thousands of revellers travel to clubs and house parties.

The lifts are therefore often used by students and young people looking to cut costs by using the unlawful drivers, who undercut legitimate local firms' prices.

Jersey Police previously warned that some of the drivers offering "lifts" included disqualified motorists, a man "known to befriend young vulnerable females", and a person "detained for mental health assessment on a number of occasions".

The cops also suggested there was a danger posed to drivers as there was a "concerning number of young females" aged 17 or 18 offering illegal lifts to strangers.

Stephen McCaffrey, head of Taxi Driver Defence Barristers, told The Times: "The scandal will break when someone is raped or killed in the back of one of these cars.

"The story won't be that it happened, but that the authorities knew about it but didn't do anything."

Even licensed cabbies in Hull warned about the dangers of "boy racers" picking up "drunk girls" in illegal lift schemes, often advertising their black market service in Facebook groups.

Payment between the passengers and drivers is mostly arranged in private messages, but fares are said to be higher than the 45p per mile which HM Revenue & Customs claims is the cost of running a car.

This means insurers won't cover the driver in the event of an accident.

Facebook is reportedly investigating some of its lift groups to see if any illegal activity was taking place or violating its terms of service.